handyman

"Handy Man" is a rock and roll song credited to singer Jimmy Jones and songwriter Otis Blackwell. It was originally recorded by The Sparks Of Rhythm, a group Jones had been a member of when he wrote it, although he was not with them when they recorded it. In 1959, Jones recorded the song himself, in a version which had been reworked by Blackwell [1], who also produced the session. "Handy Man"went to number three on the R&B charts and number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960, becoming a million seller ^[1]. The song was a hit again in 1964 for Del Shannon and again for James Taylor in 1977. Taylor's version of the song was the most successful, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the adult contemporary chart ^[2]. This version also earned Taylor his second Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Male.

Some recordings of "Handy Man" list C. Merenstein as a co-writer as does BMI under the full name Charles Merenstein. Merenstein has other songs with BMI.